NBC’s popular morning TV show “Today” recently ran a segment on the important role libraries are playing during this recession. “Forget the trendy restaurants and nightclubs,” said host Matt Lauer. “These days it seems that the library is the place to be.”

Lauer pointed out that 68 percent of Americans now have a library card, the highest number in two decades. He also said that nationwide 76 percent of libraries report that they provide the only free access to the internet in their communities. This figure rises to 83 percent for rural libraries.

In these troubled times, free computers are a big draw nationwide. Here at the Sisson Library 88 our computer usage is up 27 percent from April. Myriad free programs for youngsters, teens and adults also are popular across the country. “For cash-strapped families, libraries have become a great source of free live entertainment,” the Today show said. “The demand for DVDs and CDs has also soared.” We’ve seen all these phenomena here at your Sisson Library. In fact, attendance at our live programs is at record levels — especially for Summer Reading events, where we are averaging 56 children and 26 adults per program.

But the Today show pointed out that the big difference in this recession as compared to past economic problem times is the fact that libraries are playing a new role – helping people find work.

That’s also true here at your Sisson Library, where the free Reference USA database provides patrons with a wealth of job-related information. It offers helpful data for job seekers sending our resumes, entrepreneurs searching for business opportunities and suppliers, and students beginning new careers. Also, Learning Express includes sections on computer skills, GED preparation, job search and workplace skills. And, of course, we have many books available on test preparation, interviewing skills, writing resumes, etc.

To access the databases, go to the library’s web site at www.pagosa.colibraries.org. On the left bar on the home page, click on Online Research. Scroll down to Reference USA or Learning Express. This is a restricted area so you will have to enter your library bar code and password.

Art show opens tonight

Six students of local watercolorist Denny Rose — artists ranging in age from 18 to 80 — will have their work displayed at the library through the month of August, along with that of their popular and talented teacher. They are hoping you will attend a special opening reception this evening (Thursday, July 30) from 5–– 7 p.m. to visit with the artists, see their work, and enjoy some refreshments.

Christian fiction

“The Rapture” by American evangelist, Christian minister and author Tim LaHaye is part of the apocalyptic futuristic series he has co-authored with Jerry B. Jenkins.

Novels for teens

“The Melting Season” by Celeste Conway tells of a young ballerina from New York City who meets a boy who introduces her to a broader world. “Skeleton Creek” by Patrick Carman is an interactive mystery that invites you to read it, watch it and live it. “The Shakeress” by Kimberley Heuston is the story of an independent, self-reliant teenage Shaker girl in the 1820s and 1830s. “Woolvs in the Sitee” by Margaret Wild and Anne Spudvilas takes readers into a strange and sinister world. “In the Country of Men” by Hisham Matar takes place in Quaddafi’s Libya in 1979.

Biographies for teens

We have two books from the wonderful Taschen biography series for teens by Ingo F. Walther — “Picasso” and “Van Gogh.” Both these books contains lots of illustrations and plates of the artists’ works.

Books for preteens

“Someone Named Eva” by Joan M. Wolf is a new novel about a Polish girl kidnapped by the Nazis for readers in the third through seventh grades. New non-fiction books for preteens include “She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer by Sally Hobart and Robert Alexander and “Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City” by Janet Schulman.

Books for youngsters

New books written for parents and other caregivers to read to youngsters include “Hepcat: Live in Concert” by William Bramhall, “I Am Extremely Absolutely Boiling” by Lauren Child, “Boo! Made You Jump!” by Lauren Child and “Looking for a Moose” by Phyllis Root. All these books have wonderful illustrations.

Nonfiction

“Mimbres Archaeology at the NAN Ranch Ruin” by Harry J. Shafer is a new look at the ancient Mimbres culture that thrived in southwestern New Mexico about AD 600 to 1140. “The Food of a Younger Land” by Mark Kurlansky is a portrait of American food before the national highway system, chain restaurants and frozen food. “Columbine” by Dave Cullen is a profile of these teenage killers who defined a new era of school violence. “Plan Bee” by Susan Brackney is everything you wanted to know about the hardest working creatures on the planet.

Amish fiction series

We have three books by Wanda and Brunstetter from the Sisters of Holmes County series about the Hostettler sisters: “A Sister’s Secret,” “A Sister’s Test” and “A Sister’s Hope.”

Books about real people

“Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer” by Novella Carpenter is an amusing memoir of a woman who creates a country-style farm in urban Oakland, California. “Duchess of Death” by Richard Hack in an unauthorized biography of mystery writer Agatha Christie. “Eye of My Heart,” edited by Barbara Graham, is a collection of articles by 27 writers who tell what it is like to be a grandmother in today’s world.

Crime and suspense

“Bone by Bone” is a Mallory suspense novel by Carol O’Connell. “Sliver of Truth” by Lisa Unger is about a women who finds herself in the midst of a global crime network when a shadowy figure of a man appears in almost every photo she has taken in the past year. “Ravens” by George Dawes Green is a psychological suspense story about winners of the Georgia state lottery. “Woman Strangled: News At Ten” by Laurie Moore is the first in a new romantic suspense series. “A Plague of Secrets” by John Lescroart is a legal thriller in the Dismas Hardy series. “Killer Summer” by Ridley Pearson is the latest in the series featuring Sun Valley sheriff Walt Fleming. “The Shimmer” by David Morrell, the creator of Rambo, is a suspense novel set in small-town Texas.

Other new novels

“The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards” is a collection of stories by Robert Boswell set mainly in small, gritty American cities. “Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austin Addict” by Laurie Viera Rigler is about a 19th century English woman who awakens in 21st century Los Angeles. “Return to Sullivans Island” by Dorothea Benton Frank is next in the series featuring the Hamiltons and Hayes from South Carolina’s Lowcountry. “Heroic Measures” by Jill Ciment is a novel set in New York City about an artist, his former schoolteacher wife and their dog facing a crisis. “Exiles in the Garden” by Ward Just is the story of a senator’s son who rejects the family business of politics for a career as a newspaper photographer, and his Swiss wife.